Bhaavas in Vaishnavism and Saivism:

A Comparative Study

 

ARVIND SHARMA

Department of Religious Studies, University of Sydney

 

I

 

            The tradition of Bhakti in Hinduism, both in its Vaishnava and Saiva forms, involves the adoption or cultivation of certain attitudes towards the Ishtadevata. Thus in Hinduism:

 

            Devotion to God assumes many forms, and the bhakta or devotee may hold himself as related to God in one or more bhaavas or attitudes, the chief of which are: (1) daasya-bhaava (daasa, ‘slave’), the attitude of a servant to his master, such as that of Hanumaan to Raama; (2) sakhya-bhaava (sakhi, ‘friend’), the attitude of a friend to a friend, as that of Arjuna to Krishna; (3) vaatsalya-bhaava (vatsala, ‘a cow with a new-born calf’), the attitude of a parent to a child, as Kausalya to Rama; (4) saanta-bhaava (saanti, ‘tranquil’), the attitude of a child to a parent, as Dhruva to Suniti (5) kaanta-bhaava (kaanta, ‘desired’), the attitude of a wife to her husband, as Sita to Rama (6) rati-bhaava (rati, ‘passion’), the attitude of the beloved to her lover, as Raadha to Krishna; (7) dveshya-bhaava, (dvesha, ‘hatred’), the attitude of an atheist or god-hater towards God, as Sisupaala king of Chedi to Krishna; this notion is based on the Tantrik belief that an intense feeling towards the deity may even be expressed in hatred for him, since this implies a belief (albeit concealed) in God’s terrible rage and power.1

 

            The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the fact that though some if not many of these attitudes are shared by Vashnavism and Saivism, their ordinal ranking varies.

 

            From the point of view of Vaishnavism, the following may be taken to be a fairly representative statement of the stages, especially as all the examples are drawn from Vaishnava lore.

 

            The Bhakti-saastras speak of nineteen attitudes or bhaavas which the bhakta may adopt towards his deity. The most important of these are six: daasya, sakhya, vaatsalya, saanta, kaanta and madhura. Daasya-bhaava is the attitude of a servant to his master. Hanumaan is the classical example of an ideal servant of God. This type of relationship marks the beginning of love. At a later stage bhakti gets deepened and is comparable to the love and regard that a man has for his friend. This is sakhya-bhaava. The relationship between Kuchela and Krishna was of this type. Arjuna too for the most part moved with Krishna as a friend. Still higher and more intimate is vaatsalya bhaava, the love of the parent to the child. Kausalya had the Lord Himself as her child in the form of Rama. The love of Yasoda to Krishna was of the nature of vaatsalya. Saanta-bhaava is the converse of vaatsalya; it is the feeling of a child to its parent. Dhruva and Prahlaada are the classical examples. They were the children of God in every sense of the term. Kaanta-bhaava is the love of the wife to the husband. The relationship between Sita and Rama, and between Rukmini and Krishna was of this kind. This is a closer kinship than those we have considered so far. But the closest of all is madhura-bhaava, the romantic love of the lover and the beloved, as in the case of Raadha and Krishna. 2

 

III

 

            On the Saiva side, the following statement may be taken as fairly representative.

 

            The path to release consists of four stages: caryaa, kriyaa, yoga and jnaana. The first stands for external acts of worship like cleaning the temples, gathering flowers for the deity, etc; This is called daasa-maarga, the path of the servant; its proximate goal is saalokya, residence in the realm of God. The next stage which is kriyaa is marked by acts of intimate service to God. This path is known as satputra-maarga, the path of the good son. The objective of this discipline is saamipya, attaining the nearness of God. The third discipline is yoga which means union, and here signifies contemplation and internal worship. Through this method, the devotee hero becomes more intimate with God, as a friend with a friend. The path, therefore, is called sakhaa-maarga, the path of friendship. It leads to saarupya, gaining the form of God. The three disciplines so far explained constitute the preparatory stages in the journey to perfection. The direct means to perfection is jnaana (knowledge). This path is termed san-maarga because it takes the soul straight to sat which is God. Its fruit is the ultimate human goal which is saayujya, union with God. This union is called advaita in the Saiva-siddhaanta. But it does not mean non-difference; it means only non-separateness from God. Even in the state of release, the soul is entitatively different from God. But it then shares in the nature of Siva. It becomes similar to God in that it regains its infinitude, pervasiveness and omniscience. 3

 

IV

 

            A comparison of the two reveals that:

 

            (1) there is a greater variety of attitudes permitted in Vaishnava than in Saiva Bhakti;

 

            (2) in Vaishnavism, the attitude of friendship occupies a lower place than that of sonship and the roles are reversed in Saivism.

 

            Both of these facts seem to be explicable in terms of the comparative theologies of Vaishnavism and Saivism. The main explanation of the differences seems to lie around the doctrine of avataara or incarnation which is characteristic of Vaishnavism but not of Saivism. 3 Since the attitudes to the divine are modelled on human and specially family relationships, the range of such relationships in the case of an incarnating God is increased. For instance, as strictly speaking Siva does not incarnate in a family like Vishnu the bhaava of Vaatsalya may be regarded as virtually non-operational in his case. The same fact might account for the downgrading of the attitude of sonship as compared to friendship.

 

            To conclude: the number and order of bhaavas in Vaishnavism and Saivism seems to vary; and this seems to be a theological variable.

 

 

1 Benjamin Walker, The Hindu World, Vol. I (New York: Frederick A Praeger, 1968), p. 138. Also see Manasusai Dhavamony, Love of God According to Saiva Siddhaanta (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), Chapter I.

2 T. M. P. Mahadevan, Outlines of Hinduism (Bombay: Chetana Ltd., 1960), p. 91.

3 T. M. P. Mahadevan, op. cit., pp. 171-172.

4 See Geoffrey Parrinder, Avatar and Incarnation (London: Faber and Faber, 1970), passim, especially Chapter 7.

 

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